June 11, 2005

Silencing dissent

Yesterday at the hearings on the reactivation of parts of the "Patriot" Act, the committee chairman---James Sensenbrenner---decided he didn't like what people were saying, and so without a motion to adjourn or any warning, he went on a three-minute rant and then declared the meeting over. When other committee members tried to question what he was doing, he cut their mikes. Heaven forbid that the American people get a full hearing about their worries that dissent is being silenced! The C-SPAN video of this disgraceful action is available at this site, along with a second clip showing what happened next: the rump committee continued the hearing, even with their mikes cut (C-SPAN had boom mikes, I think, but you can tell that the people in the room have to raise their voices to be heard).

"If [civil authorities] try to enforce spiritual conformity, and are
successful, they have removed the risks and courage which belong to the
act of faith." --Paul Tillich, Dynamics of Faith